Drinks giant Diageo has announced that it is removing plastic from multipacks of its Irish stout brand Guinness. Plastic ring carriers and shrink wrap will be also removed from packs of Harp, Rockshore and Smithwick's beers, as part of Diageo's £16m initiative. The change will be phased in with multi-can packs sold in "100% recyclable and biodegradable cardboard" in Ireland from August this year. The new packaging will then be used in the UK and globally next year. Many companies have been committing to being more green after concerns about plastic waste were highlighted in shows such as the BBC's Blue Planet 2, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Last year, rival brewer Carlsberg switched to using a glue instead of plastic to hold together its cans. And more recently, Nestle got rid of plastic straws from its products and is using paper ones instead. Last month Coca-Cola started releasing information on how much plastic it used - three million tonnes of plastic packaging in one year. That was part of a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which is pushing for companies and governments to do more to tackle plastic pollution. In total, 150 companies have pledged to reduce their plastic usage as part of the campaign.

Posted by

BBC news